Let’s see… where did I leave off? Right… I drove the car back to Massachusetts from Florida in early July. From there we hit the acceleration button. We quickly organized our next move of items to the family camp in New Hampshire. Mom and Dad were already up there, enjoying their summer away from the brutal Florida heat. Larry picked up the Uhaul and we began staging the boxes as we waited for the hired moving crew we contracted with to help remove the heavier items from the 3rd floor. Our plan was to empty the Covid Palace floor by floor, so that the estate/moving sale would be limited to only to the first floor and the basement.

The clock was ticking, and they were late. They sent a text saying they were running behind, so we kept staging and prepping. But we had a sofa on the 3rd floor that was a key part of the uhaul packing strategy, so we were really hampered in our efforts. After 30 minutes of waiting, Larry tried to reach the crew, but they weren’t answering. After 60 minutes it was clear we had been ghosted. Now what?

Now what indeed. Meredith to the rescue. She had been spending her gym time strength training. She said, and I quote: “They say to lift weights for health. I say lift weights so you don’t have to ask a boy for help.” And then she took one end of the couch and Larry took the other, and together they made their way down two flights of stairs and out into the Uhaul. From there it all went swimmingly. We brought a truck full of items to NH, and we brought a truck full of mom’s items back to add to the estate sale, which was scheduled after the movers packed the two-bedroom condo’s worth of items were were choosing to store for the foreseeable future. Once we had everything we wanted to keep removed from the home it was time to get rid of everything that remained.

We had a lovely crew helping us with the estate sale, and it went OK, but not great. We had one asshole attempt to steal a camera. Fucker got busted, but it really soured the mood across the board. So, two days of mediocre sales and then one day of freecycling everything that was left. That part actually felt nice, because most of the people were neighbors, single moms, young families, young sisters about to move to Maine. We were delighted to donate items to help folks get a jump start. Then the housing authority came and took all the remaining furniture, including the treadmill and our our infamous dining room table. Those were the two pieces that had me most worried. Meredith and dad made two runs to Savers with the remaining books, pillows, and any other items that we could neither sell nor give away.

And then we were done with Brookline. We did a walk though with our lovely landlord and we said goodbye to the Covid Palace and that crazy steep hill. Larry and I stayed with our friends, John and CB, in Arlington for the week while Larry worked from the office and I finished a floral design course in Watertown. We continued to use our gym in Brighton, and we worked though some final (for now) visits to favorite people and places in the greater Boston area. We didn’t get to everybody or everything, but we tried.

We had one last move to make, and that was to temporarily re-home all of the oil paintings and all of the musical instruments, which we figured would not fare well in long term (not climate controlled) storage. Our friend, Milan in Pennsylvania, graciously agreed to host them for the duration of our travels. So, Larry and I packed the CRV and drove down to deliver the items and to enjoy a weekend visit. After that, it was time to relocate to New Hampshire and spend some quality time with mom and dad and Meredith. (TBC)